


My Treat

by MrHooty



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29213277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrHooty/pseuds/MrHooty
Summary: Yukie always keeps an eye out for all them. He wasn't anything special...right? (akayukie)
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Shirofuku Yukie
Kudos: 5





	My Treat

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested on my tumblr - "thewafflekingdom". 
> 
> Quick note - my other account here was "urfriendlyneighborhoodpan." I can't access that account anymore lol so I'll be posting here from now on. In case you notice the similarities lol.

It happened somewhat suddenly. He liked to think he caught on pretty quickly, if not immediately. One week Yukie was paying him as little mind as the next, and the next she was giving him sidelong looks. Watching him just a little more carefully than before. He didn't automatically assume anything. Lately, Yukie had been putting a little more effort into their club, seemingly because it had finally occurred to her that this was her last year with them. He couldn't think of any other reason.

She then she began to linger after practice. Taking her time cleaning up, idly exchanging polite conversation.

Nothing of true substance, really. She asked about his studies often, and his plans for university. Things they may have shared before, during more casual chitchat.

Something about this didn't feel particularly casual to him, for some reason.

A lot of the time, Bokuto was with them, ever eager to have anyone's attention. He had a talent of moving along the conversation naturally, so at some point Akaashi began to assume that, actually, Yukie just wanted to be around Bokuto more. This took some pressure off for a few days, and it seemed to be true at first. Their banter was so easy, there was never any stumble or hesitation. He'd rarely seen this side of her so it was exceptionally obvious to him that Yukie could only be attracted to it.

But then the rare occasion occurred that Bokuto was out sick for a couple of days, and Yukie continued to hang around him. Striking up conversation with him whenever the opportunity presented itself, and even going so far as poking fun at him – all as if Bokuto was still there. Or, more like, it never matter whether or not he had been to begin with.

Akaashi never expressed any sort of disinclination toward her, but more and more he found himself confused by it.

When Bokuto returned, Yukie playfully said, “Back so soon? We were having so much fun without you.”

“Knowing Akaashi,” he joked back, taking it exceptionally well as always, “I don't doubt it.”

He wasn't sure if he was being teased. At this point, he didn't know much of anything anymore.

It wasn't as if any of this was unwelcome. He'd always liked Yukie on some level. She had a really mellow personality that he'd always quite favored. A steady gaze, a slow and certain smile. The kind of presence that put one at ease. He held a similar kind of affection he could begrudgingly admit he held for Bokuto, for her.

But at one point or another, he had to wonder at her intentions. If she simply wanted to be friends, she would have expressed more interest in hanging out with them during non-extracurricular activities. He started to suggest it to Bokuto, who was more than happy to suggest it in turn to Yukie. But there was always an excuse as to why she couldn't. And in the hallways when he spotted her, despite her always offering a smile and a nod, she never crossed over to talk. Not even to say hello.

He tried not to overthink it.

But then something weird happened, and Akaashi couldn't properly internalize it.

In the middle of practice, his heart pounding so hard he felt it in his temples, wiping the sweat from his upper lip – glancing, thoughtlessly, and catching her watchful gaze from across the court. Her expression steady as ever.

It was an off day for him. Somewhere between a stressful exam and a couple sleepless nights, he found himself struggling to concentrate during much of the school day or practice. Mistake after mistake, and his punishment was to clean up afterwards. He was unhooking the net when he heard her, stepping out from the equipment room with a cart to collect the balls. They were the only two left.

“Shirofuku-san?” he said, to which she smiled languidly. “What are you still doing here?”

“This is every night for me,” she said, coaxing the cart over to him. She took the other end of the net with a hum. “You boys forget I'm your manager. I work, too.”

In all honesty, this was the first time in a long while he'd been asked to clean the gym afterward. Had she been assisting him back then, too? He took the bundled up net into his arms. “No, of course not.”

“You seemed in a daze out there,” she commented, lifting her brows. “Are you doing okay?”

He found himself staring a little longer than usual, mulling over his response, and her smile only widened. Gently creasing the corners of her eyes.

“You seem tired, Akaashi.”

“I am,” he finally said, with a sigh. “Very tired.”

He folded the net as she collected the balls, and together they put away the equipment and locked up for the night. Their teacher waited, finishing up paperwork, and on his way to the changing room she said, “Meet me at the front gate.”

He paused to look at her.

She shrugged at him as she walked backward, offering that same easy smile she always had before spinning on her heel. “Walk me home.”

He changed in record time, mindful of hers. By the entrance was a streetlight. She waited in its pool of warm yellow light, hugging her bag to her chest. She'd changed back into her uniform, too, somehow more quickly than him. She fiddled with the ends of her hair, pensive, but straightened when she found his gaze.

She beckoned him over. “Hungry? I know this place close by if you're up for it.”

He hesitated, mostly out of surprise.

“Is that a no?” she asked, still smiling.

“No,” he said quickly. “I am hungry.”

The edges of her eyes creased, and then she reached out to take his hand. Tugging him along behind her. “It's on the corner. You'll love it.”

Akaashi wasn't sure how to respond, preoccupied by the way her fingers curled around his. She was swaying their joined hands, and when he matched her pace he noted a couple across the street – holding hands just as they were. He looked away quickly. “I'm up for anything.”

She laughed a little, which felt off-key to him. “I'll pay,” she said flippantly, and then shot him a blithe look. “This time.”

“This time?”

“This time.”

The place on the corner was a simple burger joint. One of those mom and pop shops. She found them a booth after placing their orders, working through a shake as he took dainty sips of his water.

He wasn't sure what was more strange to him, about this situation. He had never hung out with her outside of school, except when it related to the club. He knew Bokuto had, a fair number of times. But he could never consider his association with Yukie anywhere near the same level as hers with Bokuto. They were a mutable pair, so well-matched, he thought, it was hard to define them sometimes.

Akaashi thought back to a previous conversations he'd observed, or had been involved in one way or another, and felt a strange pang. He couldn't pinpoint the emotion – whether envy or jealousy or something else – but all he could think about was the way they looked at one another. Bokuto, as ever involved as he always was, cracking into the biggest grin around her. And Yukie, with an affectionately exasperated look in her eyes, matching him beat for beat. Did it sometimes feel as if he were intruding?

Did he sometimes think to himself that he wished he had that sort of bond with someone?

When he found her eyes, she looked as if she somehow knew what he was thinking. “You're over-analyzing everything, Akaashi-kun,” she murmured softly. “I figured you needed a pick-me-up. Just enjoy the moment.”

“Where do you live?” he asked suddenly.

She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder.

The opposite direction from him. “Thank you for this,” he said instead. “You really didn't have to.”

“Hey, what's better than free food, huh?”

As always, he was impressed by how quickly she got her own food down. She spent the rest of the meal picking away at his fries, making small talk.

Some it was stuff they've spoken about before, some not. She, like Bokuto, had a talent for keeping conversation flowing. Never settling for a single topic for too long. Never running the risk of it going dry. When he struck her interest, her eyes would slide over his face smoothly, her head tilting slightly.

He found himself enjoying having her undivided attention. It wasn't very often that it happened in all honesty.

As they began their walk to her neighborhood, she bumped her shoulder against him and asked, more gently, “What's been bothering you today?”

It wasn't anything simple enough for this conversation, he thought. Exams were always the easiest explanation – one which everyone accepted quickly enough – but he didn't think it would satisfy her. She watched him carefully, as always. Her slow and certain gaze bearing into him in such a way, all he could do was sigh and say, “I'm just...somewhat stressed out about the future. I'm thinking of getting a part time job. I'm not...completely sure where I'll be going for college, so I just want to have some experience for when I actually have to start being independent. You know, in case I have to move out somewhere.”

“I see,” she said evenly, prompting him further wordlessly.

“I... I've obviously thought about this before, but it's just weird having it play out before me like this. It came faster than I thought.”

“You're a year away from graduating,” she reminded him. “You have time to think about it.”

“I'm not sure,” he said doubtfully, staring ahead of them. “Watching you – and Bokuto-san, of course – made me realize it's closer than it seems. You know, he's not really making any real plans, and he should be. He really should.”

“He's Kou,” she waved off with a smile. “Don't worry about him. He'll figure something out.”

“I can't _help_ worrying, Shirofuku-san,” Akaashi stressed to her, looking at her as they walked. “This is his last year. And then it'll be _my_ last year – ”

“Jeez,” she said. She skipped forward a step, and then swung in front of him suddenly, her hand taking a hold of his arm firmly.

He came to a quick, skittering halt. “Shiro – ”

Her other hand slowly came up to take his other arm, holding him still.

He froze entirely.

Yukie crowded in on him, which felt ridiculous enough as it was. She was a head or so shorter than him. He was forced to tuck his chin in to maintain any sort of eye contact. He quickly turned his face away, avoiding this. All this, and she still said, “Look at me, Keiji.”

“I – ” he hesitated, surprised. She'd never used his given name before. He did as she said.

“You're allowed to enjoy yourself,” she said slowly. “Stop stressing yourself out over things that haven't happened yet.”

He swallowed hard. “Oh... Okay.”

“Start stressing out next year,” she joked, stepping back. But not letting go entirely.

He felt himself laugh a little, and was surprised at himself when he said, “But you won't be here next year. What if I have another breakdown?”

She laughed with him. “I'll always be here for you,” she said simply, and unfortunately left it at that. She released his arms and continued onward toward her neighborhood.

He followed soon after, wrung with disbelief.

“And about Kou,” she said idly. “I know he doesn't look like it sometimes, but he knows what he's doing. He's had a plan since I met him. Doesn't look to me like he's planning on changing course any time soon. Don't you worry about him. Not when it comes to this.”

Akaashi stared ahead, hands stuffed into his pockets. Thinking. Always thinking. He looked down again as he finally said, “Shirofuku-san...”

“Hm?”

Too late now to not ask. “Do you... _like_ Bokuto-san?”

“Well, sure,” she said, easily. With no thought behind it.

He scratched behind his ear. “Oh.”

“Why?” she asked around a chuckle. “Are you planning on overthrowing him as captain and need my input?”

When he didn't answer, she stopped to look at him.

And when he still didn't say anything, she cocked her head. “Are you asking if I like, _like_ Kou?”

He avoided her look. “No?”

“Kou has the emotional availability of a _log_ ,” she deadpanned, hands on her hips. “I think it would be a very, _very_ long time before anyone can catch his eye.”

Akaashi's brow furrowed. “So –”

“ _No_ ,” she said, exasperated. And then feigned rethinking it. “I mean. If he was into the idea, I wouldn't be _against_ it.”

Akaashi smoothed a hand over the back of his head, nodding. “Okay – ”

“I'm kidding,” she cut him off. “Why do you care?”

This he couldn't explain. He reached for his tie, fixing it needlessly. “I... I noticed how you two act together and thought maybe there was something there.”

“No,” she said smoothly, unfazed.

He sighed. “It was just a question.”

They continued on in mostly silence, arriving at her home much more quickly than he had expected. “This is me,” she said, turning to him expectantly. “Thanks for walking me home.”

“Thanks for...the food,” he said, unceremoniously.

She smiled. “It's nothing.”

Then they just stood there, wordless. After a few moments, she bid him goodnight and turned to enter through the front gate of her home, when he suddenly said, “I – I would like to hang out again sometime.”

She looked at him, smiling curiously. “Would you?”

Akaashi bowed his head, embarrassed at her reaction. Was it so obvious to her? “I... I like our conversations. I would like to be friends. If that's okay.”

Her eyes flickered as she laughed. “I like our talks, too.”

There was a moment in which she was just smiling at him, almost softly. Almost fondly. It made his throat feel dry.

“I'd like to hang out more often, too,” she finally said. “How about this weekend?”

“Oh... Yeah, okay,” he said, astounded.

“Your treat this time,” she said quickly, pointing at him sharply.

“Oh, yeah. My treat.”

She smiled again. “It's a date then.”

“Yea – Oh, what?”

“It's a date,” she affirmed, and his mouth snapped shut. “Goodnight, Keiji.”

“G... Goodnight,” he mumbled as she slipped into her home. He stood a few moments longer, alone, absorbing what she'd said. And then he was jogging home, struggling with how to feel about it. He considered the entirety of tonight, reevaluating himself and everything that had been said.

And finally, finally, settled on the thought that maybe the reason that Yukie had been spending so much time around him, specifically, was because she actually liked _him_.

He felt his chest twist with anxiety at the thought.

But, truth be told, he felt a little relieved, too.

When he got home that night, it was to a text from Bokuto saying: _Did you really ask Yukie if she had a crush on me? Are you blind??_

.x.

**Author's Note:**

> I think they're super cute.


End file.
